Recently the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) 新闻出版总署 of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has issued a circular banning use of foreign words in Chinese-language publications. 

While this sounds like a sign of some nationalistic surge to promote ethnic and cultural purity, as well as cultural exclusivism, the reality is that this will not only protect the Chinese language from corrupted by indiscriminate and unnecessary borrowing from foreign languages, but also will help Chinese people who learn English and other foreign languages by reducing confusions and misuses of words and phrases.

A good counter-example to this policy is Japan, where very few Japanese are fluent in English even after six years of mandatory English instructions in secondary schools (grades 7-12) and popularity of English lessons.  Unlike in China, the Japanese language has never been closely regulated by a national academy, and indiscriminate importations of foreign words from multiple sources (Dutch, Portuguese, French, German and English) have created a confusing array of gairaigo words used in manners inconsistent with the original usage or grammar in their originating languages.  This has led to a proliferation of Engrish or Japrish words, made (in)famous back in the 1990s through T-shirts produced by a company named Hikousen.  While English-sounding words and Latin alphabets proliferate in Japanese cities Japrish has done injustice not only to the Japanese language but also to the English language.  China’s policy decision comes at a time when many borrowed foreign words are becoming part of common Chinese people’s speech, whereas certain words are completely misused.